The Chore Chart Has Made it's Way into our Home!

What is one word that brings every single person, old or young, man or woman to magically become invisible? Who wants to give me a C-H-O-R-E? What's that spell? Chore. Everybody hates chores! This month we have decided to start chore charts in our home and we decided to pay our children every Friday if they have completed all their chores for that week. They can earn up to $5 a week, & for an 8 and 7 year old that's a LOT of money! The first week went GREAT! This last week they only earned $3 out of the possible $5. And it's not like I am asking a lot out of them! NO! All I ask is that each boy once a week poop scoop the yard (YES, their Daddy & I HATE this chore so why not pawn it off on them) they each must empty the bathroom trash once a week, feed the dogs every other night and Annabelle & I feed them on Sundays, keep their bedroom floors picked up, and to make their beds every morning, shut their closet doors (why that is so difficult for boys is beyond me) and just for London, he must remember to shut his dresser drawers after getting clothes out (he got that bad habit from his Daddy! I am always going behind Dave and shutting his drawers, GRRR!). That's not a lot of chores at all!!! Easy! Or one would think so. 

Again, the first week they did everything on their chore chart and with so much enthusiasm! This last week they both didn't make their beds a couple of mornings, neither poop scoop. And Caleb had trouble keeping his floor picked up and London forgot about his drawers. So I had to make the tough decision to not pay them the whole $5. Because see, this is also about teaching them work quality and savings. I want my children to know that if you don't do your best you don't get rewarded. I want them to learn that once you have a job the better you are at your job the higher up you'll go. I also want my children to understand that scary concept of saving your money! WHAT! Saving! Money burns a damn hole in my pocket quickly then a spark in a dry Wyoming grass land! Seriously! It's the one thing I suck at! Ask my husband he sees the bank statement every month. I want my children to understand that spending $1 here or $5 there on stupid pointless things is a big fat waste of money but if you save it you can buy BIG SHINY things! I explained to them that if they earn $5 every week then in 5 months they could have $100 bucks! $100!!!! HOLY SHIT! That's a ton of MONEY even for me a 30 year old woman! My little guy's eyes got HUGE! Lots of shiny or I guess I should say electronic things started dancing infront of their eyes! It's me who sees shiny sparkly things. 

It broke their little hearts when they found out they were only getting $3 bucks for this last week, but tough LOVE babies, tough love! It sucks to take and it sucks big balls to dish out as parents! But we only have 18 years, well, more like really 13 years cause kids really don't understand much of this crazy world till they're about 5 years old, so we as parents have about 13 years to turn these hell on feet into little people who can function on their own and manage to feed themselves, have shelter, and transportation. Cause lets face it, no one wants a 30 year old child living with them. I want to be able to bang my husband again on the kitchen table one day or walk naked again through my house. 

So my chore method is our method to teach them many of life's lessons. And to also get out of some of the more shitter chores around the house. And you can bet your sweet booties that when these kids get a little older, cleaning the toilet, doing dishes, and dusting will find their way onto their chore charts!